


Nightmares

by nekocrouton



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Death, Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff, Imagine your OTP, M/M, Mild Gore, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 13:17:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7534192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekocrouton/pseuds/nekocrouton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For <a href="http://draconica.tumblr.com">draconica</a> on Tumblr!!</p>
<p>I had reblogged <a href="http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/146351648728/imagine-your-otp-sleeping-together-nothing-lewd">this</a> post on Tumblr and she encouraged me to write it, so I wrote a little thing for it!  </p>
<p>Basically the prompt reads: 'Imagine your OTP sleeping together. Nothing lewd, just sleeping peacefully together. Person A has a nightmare about Person B dying from an accident of some sort. Person A wakes up to see Person B sleeping. They sit up, wake Person B up and Person A starts crying. Person A tells them about what happened in their dream. Since Person B doesn’t know how to stop people from crying, (apart from saying words of comfort) they lean over to Person A and kiss them before embracing them in bed, gently stroking their hair to get them back to sleep.'</p>
<p>Nick/Ellis</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

  * For [draconica](https://archiveofourown.org/users/draconica/gifts).



Ellis was running through a dark forest, barely noticing that sharp branches were whipping at his body as he hurried to get to where he heard familiar cries of panic and fear.  He endured scratches on the skin of his exposed arms, ignoring the pain and the bleeding as he only had one objective in mind: to get to the source of the horrifying sounds that he was hearing.  His lungs burned with exhaustion while his pistol was gripped tightly in his fingers, held out at the ready as the calls of distress got closer and closer.  He felt like he was _never_ going to get there, until finally he burst through into a clearing, only to be met by the horrific sight of Nick being held down and viciously clawed at by a Hunter.

 

“Jesus Christ, _Nick_!”  Ellis cried out as he ran towards where the other man was now laying helplessly, aiming his gun as fast as he could, not hesitating to squeeze the trigger as soon as he had a good shot.  Everything seemed so _unreal_ to him as he fired his gun, and his chest felt tight, as if he was deep underwater.  When his first shot missed, Ellis started to panic and he fired off another one, and then another one, and yet another one.  “Please, jus’ _die_ already!”  Ellis screamed out as he unloaded his whole clip into the Hunter, gravely aware that Nick was looking to be less responsive with each passing moment that the infected was able to sink yet another claw deep into his skin.

 

Thankfully, _eventually_ , the Hunter slumped over in its death, and as soon as it did, Ellis quickly knelt down at Nick’s side.  “Nick, Nick, talk to me, man,” Ellis pleaded as he assessed the damage, his eyes flicking from the bloodied, gored chest to the gambler’s face and glassy eyes.  His throat tightened when he realized that Nick wasn’t responding, and that Nick seemed to be very _dead_.  “No, no, _no_ ,” Ellis said with a tremble to his voice, dropping his gun and pressing his hands to Nick’s wounds in an effort to stem the blood flow, which was now not much more than a trickle.  “ _NO!_ ”

\----

Ellis woke up from his nightmare in a cold sweat, jerking up from his pillow and breathing raggedly.  As he began to realize that it had just been a really, _really_ bad dream and not at _all_ real, he dragged a hand down his face, noting that the corners of his eyes were wet with tears.  In the dim light of the room, he glanced over to the figure that was next to him, relieved when he could see Nick’s chest rise and fall as he slept.  “Oh thank the lord,” Ellis whispered to himself as he saw that Nick was well and very much alive.  The emotion of seeing that his boyfriend was _actually_ okay was too much for him though, and he couldn’t stop the fresh tears that welled up in his eyes.  “Nick, _Nick_ ,” Ellis choked out as he shook the gambler’s arm in an attempt to wake him.  He kind of hated to rouse Nick from his sleep, considering that the conman was a light sleeper and he’d _likely_ be mad at him for doing it, but he desperately needed some comfort after _that_ horrifying nightmare.

 

Nick stirred from his sleep, lifting a hand to rub at his eyes.  “What is it Ellis?”  He asked groggily as he shifted under the sheets so that he was now facing the younger man, his eyes still half-lidded with sleep.  “This better be good,” Nick said while he yawned.

 

“I had a _real_ bad nightmare,” Ellis sniffled, hot tears starting to stream down his cheeks as he recalled the horrific scene that played out in his head.  “You were gettin’ attacked by a Hunter an’ I was tryin’ to save ya, but I d-d-didn’t get there in time,” he got out with a hiccup.  “I was tryin’ an’ shootin’ but when I finally got to ya, you were _gone_ ,” Ellis explained in a tight voice before finally breaking down and beginning to sob.

 

“That nightmare again, huh?”  Nick asked as he absentmindedly scratched at his bare chest, not at all surprised that Ellis had woken him up due to a bad dream.  _Neither_ of them had gotten through the zombie apocalypse unscathed, after all.  Even though the physical wounds had healed for the most part, the mental ones were slower to fade away.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time Nick had gotten awakened by a sniffling Ellis next to him, and it likely wouldn’t be the last one either.  But he _well_ understood where Ellis was coming from.  “I’m right here kiddo, I’m not going anywhere,” he said soothingly in an attempt to calm the mechanic down.  Nick was never good when people started to cry; he never had been and he probably never _would_ be.  A couple of divorces were heavy proof of that.  So when Ellis started crying even harder, Nick froze up for a moment.  But _just_ for a moment.  He leaned in towards Ellis’ face and pressed a soft, tender kiss to his boyfriend’s lips, tasting salt as he murmured, “It’s all right El, I’m right here with you.”  Nick then reached an arm out and tugged Ellis into an embrace, while he scooted in closer to the Southerner.  He pulled the comforters over their bodies and drew Ellis into his chest, feeling his boyfriend’s warm body still shaking with sobs.  Nick knew that Ellis probably just needed to get his emotions out before he could go back to sleep, so he slid a hand into Ellis’ wavy locks, lightly scratching at the mechanic’s scalp in an effort to calm him.

 

“I-I-I’m sorry fer wakin’ ya up,” Ellis hiccupped, allowing himself to nuzzle up against Nick’s chest with a shaky sigh.  Just touching and feeling and _knowing_ that Nick was right there was enough to relax him somewhat, which helped the tears in his eyes to dry up.  Somehow, being enclosed in Nick’s embrace made him feel secure and protected, like _nothing_ could hurt him anymore.

 

“It’s fine,” Nick mumbled into Ellis’ hair while dragging his fingers through the curls.  The faint scent of the mechanic’s shampoo tickled his nostrils, evidence of the shower that Ellis had taken before turning in for the night.  “Go back to sleep kiddo,” he urged as he continued to stroke his boyfriend’s hair.  Eventually, the hiccups and sobs started to subside, and soon after that, Ellis fell fast asleep in his arms.  Nick carefully lowered his hand from the kid’s head, making sure not to wake him with the movement, and settled in next to him.  Not too long after tucking his free arm under his pillow, Nick found his eyes fluttering shut as he began to gradually doze off as well.  Fortunately no other nightmares disturbed their slumber, and the two of them slept peacefully through the rest of the night, entangled in each other’s arms the entire time.


End file.
